Dungy: Scifres was difference

Kaeding acknowledges it's hard not to think of the negatives when facing a game-deciding kick, and he has had a couple of big misses in his career. But despite suffering a strained groin earlier in the game, he easily booted the 26-yard field goal with 33 seconds left that sent the game to overtime.

“To come out and knock one of those through, it feels good,” Kaeding said. “You put those in your memory bank for the next time. It's such a great game, and such a great feeling to get the win.”

With the Chargers driving to a possible tying field goal late in the fourth, Kaeding was rooting for the offense to get him as close as possible. But a near-chip shot doesn't necessarily take the nerves away.

“It's like when you're out there on the putting green with your buddies, it's easy to make the 3-and 4-footers. But you get out on the course and your knees start knocking,” Kaeding said.

“We're all human. I'd be sitting here lying if I told you there weren't any negative thoughts coming on kicks like that. You think, 'Man, this is only 26 yards. Everybody expects me to make it.' You've just got to accept those thoughts. It's the human mind. You take 'em, acknowledge them for what they are, and let them go. You tell yourself you're going to make it, and then you knock it through.”

KAEDING'S INJURY

Kaeding suffered the groin injury on a freak play, possibly caused by the torn-up turf in the middle of the field. Chargers coach Norv Turner had expressed concern earlier in the week about the quality of the grass, which has been chewed up by the Chargers and two college bowl games.

In the second quarter, Kaeding ran at the ball on a kickoff and slipped just as his foot made contact with the ball. He went to the ground, the ball squirted only to the Indy 20, and it was returned to the 33. The Colts took advantage by driving to a 43-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri that gave them a 10-7 lead.

NUTS 'N' BOLTS

– The officiating crew for the game, led by referee Ron Winter, called more penalties for more yards in the regular season than any other in the league. Saturday night, they threw 12 flags that resulted in 114 yards. The Colts suffered nine of those penalties for 74 yards in losses.

– The two biggest penalties came in overtime on the Chargers' winning drive. Indy was called for defensive holding on a pass play that gave the Chargers a first down at the Colts' 35, and for a 15-yard facemask penalty on Sproles that produced another first down on the 20, one play before Sproles' winning run.